EQT (NYSE:EQT) Stock Gets Price Target Cut from Mizuho

EQT (NYSE:EQT) had its price objective lowered by Mizuho from $72.00 to $68.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of EQT from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Zacks Research raised shares of EQT from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of EQT from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. UBS Group lowered their price target on EQT from $77.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $71.00 price target on shares of EQT in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.64.

EQT Stock Up 3.5%

Shares of EQT opened at $54.28 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.59 and a beta of 0.66. EQT has a 12-month low of $47.94 and a 12-month high of $68.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $52.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.18.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. EQT had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 28.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 29.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that EQT will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

EQT Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 4th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from EQT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.1650. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 4th. EQT’s payout ratio is currently 15.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EQT news, CEO Toby Rice sold 175,328 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.03, for a total transaction of $9,648,299.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,157,865 shares in the company, valued at $118,747,310.95. This represents a 7.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EQT

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of EQT during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $163,705,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in EQT by 7.2% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,240,709 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $225,478,000 after acquiring an additional 284,244 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in EQT by 156.2% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 93,774 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,986,000 after acquiring an additional 57,179 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in EQT in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,264,000. Finally, EFG International AG acquired a new stake in EQT in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,883,000. Institutional investors own 90.81% of the company’s stock.

More EQT News

Here are the key news stories impacting EQT this week:

• Positive Sentiment: EQT Corporation raised its quarterly dividend by 3% to $0.17 per share, bringing the annualized payout to $0.68 and the indicated yield to approximately 1.3%. The increase reinforces management’s commitment to shareholder returns and may support investor sentiment. EQT Raises Quarterly Dividend 3%, Reinforces Shareholder Returns
• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho maintained an “outperform” rating while lowering its price target from $72 to $68. The revised target still implies substantial upside from recent trading levels, providing a favorable signal despite the reduction. Mizuho Adjusts EQT Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: Scotiabank initiated coverage with a “sector perform” rating and a $54 price target, indicating limited near-term upside and a broadly market-consistent view of EQT Corporation. Scotiabank Initiates Coverage on EQT
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that EQT is acquiring Stockbridge for $375 million and adding approximately $16.5 billion in assets under management involve EQT Real Estate, the alternative-asset-management business associated with Swedish EQT AB, rather than the U.S. natural-gas producer EQT Corporation. The transaction therefore appears unlikely to directly affect NYSE: EQT. EQT to Acquire Stockbridge
• Neutral Sentiment: Other reports concerning EQT AB’s proposed Cleanaway takeover and higher offer for Kakaku.com also relate to the Swedish investment firm, not EQT Corporation, and are not direct catalysts for the U.S. gas producer’s stock.

EQT Company Profile

EQT Corporation is a natural gas producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company explores for, develops, and produces natural gas, natural gas liquids, and crude oil, with its operations concentrated in the Appalachian Basin, particularly the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.

In addition to its upstream production activities, EQT has interests in the midstream infrastructure used to gather, process, transport, and store natural gas. These assets support the movement of production from well sites to regional and interstate markets.